Misfortune vs Curse - What's the difference?
misfortune | curse |
(uncountable) bad luck
* 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited,
(countable) an undesirable event such as an accident
* 1839 , Charles Robert Darwin,
A supernatural detriment or hindrance; a bane.
A prayer or imprecation that harm may befall someone.
The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment.
* Shakespeare
A vulgar epithet.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=
, volume=189, issue=1, page=37, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (slang) A woman's menses.
(lb) To place a curse upon (a person or object).
*
*:Captain Edward Carlisle; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed' the fate which had assigned such a duty, ' cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.
To call upon divine or supernatural power to send injury upon; to imprecate evil upon; to execrate.
*Bible, (w) xxii. 28
*:Thou shalt notcurse the ruler of thy people.
(lb) To speak or shout a vulgar curse or epithet.
(lb) To use offensive or morally inappropriate language.
*Bible, (w) xxi. 74
*:Then began he to curse and to swear.
*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
*:His spirits hear me, / And yet I need must curse .
To bring great evil upon; to be the cause of serious harm or unhappiness to; to furnish with that which will be a cause of deep trouble; to afflict or injure grievously; to harass or torment.
*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
*:On impious realms and barbarous kings impose / Thy plagues, and curse 'em with such sons as those.
As a noun misfortune
is (uncountable) bad luck.As a verb curse is
.misfortune
English
Noun
Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
- Cycling's complex etiquette contains an unwritten rule that riders in contention for a race win should not be penalised for sheer misfortune .
- The worst tour I have ever had the misfortune to experience.
- It was my fortune, or misfortune , to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training. - Ulysses S. Grant
The Voyage of the Beagle., Chapter X
- The snowstorm, which was the cause of their misfortune , happened in the middle of January, corresponding to our July, and in the latitude of Durham!
- She had to come to terms with a number of misfortunes .
curse
English
Noun
(wikipedia curse) (en noun)- The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance.
Sam Leith
Where the profound meets the profane, passage=Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses ", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.}}